Two council members of the Metropolitan Traffic and Parking Commission are trying to pass an ordinance that would ban commercial vehicles from local streets in Nashville, TN.

Council members Bruce Stanley and Sam Coleman introduced the measure in July, which would make it illegal for commercial trucks to be on local roads unless they were picking up or delivering. The two said it was an effort to cut down on truck traffic and parking on local streets.

“Huge rigs come up and down neighborhoods and do a lot of damage,” Coleman told the traffic board in August, according to The Tennessean newspaper.

However, after reviewing the ordinance, the city’s traffic engineering staff said they wouldn’t support it as written because it “could be challenged legally and would be difficult to enforce.”

The staff’s recommendation was to “investigate truck prohibitions on a case-by-case basis” instead of using a blanket prohibition to ban trucks from local streets.

Truckers have caught a bit of a break, as the matter was deferred in August and again on Sept. 14 for further investigation. If there’s no committee action after

30 days, it can go back to the council for a second go-round. That’s where the matter stood at press time.

OOIDA supports its members’ efforts to stand up to unrealistic and unnecessary proposals in their communities – such as the proposed truck ban on Nashville streets.

The Nashville Metropolitan City Council has provided an online comment form at nashville.gov for those interested in letting officials know how they feel. The ordinance number is BL2009-491. LL